There were foods I avoided because they were like fingernails or a chalkboard. “The beach is boring.” Or, “I worry about skin cancer.” (Both of which are true… up to a point.) But saying, “The very idea of touching sand drives me crazy,” sounds, well, crazy. If someone suggested a trip to the beach, I’d have a vague, undistinguished feeling of “Ugh.” Then I’d find reasons that made sense to others, and to me. “I don’t do parties.” “I only wear cotton.” “I work at home where it’s quiet.” That’s not uncommon: One way adults with ADHD cope with their challenges is to simply avoid triggering them. I religiously avoided situations where they were a problem, often unconsciously. In the past, my method of dealing with these issues was simple. (Which is why Mindful Meditation can be so powerful for ADHD adults.) When life is a constant distraction, racing from idea to idea, there’s no pause to consider and reflect and take stock. This is another aspect of ADHD: We may not be particularly in tune with our emotions and feelings. So when we can’t explain what’s going on… we get creative. A University of Memphis study found that adults with ADHD scored higher on 11 standard tests for creativity when compared to their peers. If you’re not able to figure out, “I only wear flannel pajamas because everything else drives me nuts,” you learn to come up with reasons. This is also why we buy 10 pairs of things that feel good, and don’t know why. But I’m telling you, to me, it feels like it. I am aware that it is not a hot piece of jagged aluminum. Yes, I know that little Levis label is fabric. Or better still, inside, on the couch, reading. So when I’m on the beach, I’m on a towel. For me, just having wet sand on my feet or calf feels like I’m covered in ants-thousands of ants!-each one with a bit of sandpaper. And I’m not talking sand finding its way into some sensitive crevice. This is an example of a physical sensitivity. (And I almost died when I saw it the first time!) I know, “It’s just a movie.” I know you think it’s fun to be spooked, but I’ll be seeing that alien popping up and snarling until the day I die. That’s a classic oversensitivity to emotions. And yet… if I put on music or a program that I like, one that I choose, it helps me focus. For example, when someone has music or a TV running somewhere in the background, I cannot tune it out. ADHD people can have problems listening in noisy environments.Īs Terry Matlen, author of Queens of Distraction, to ld us, when she is trying to converse with one person, “Even if there’s two other people in the room, I cannot filter out the noise from the other conversation.”įor those around us, figuring this stuff out can get complicated. Turns out, struggling to filter out noisy environments so you can follow a conversation may not be a problem with your ear drums but how your brain processes and filters sounds. How many adults with ADHD have gone to an audiologist convinced they are losing their hearing from all those Black Sabbath concerts they went to, and are told they have perfect hearing? I can hear a conversation three tables away… and tune out the one at my table. Here are four esoteric examples of the ways ‘Overly Sensitive to Physical Stimuli’ can show up in daily life:ġ. And to my surprise, a lot of what they are saying resonates with me. And more and more of the experts we interview want to talk about it. Thomas Brown’s great book Smart But Stuck, and Terry Matlen’s latest, Queens of Distraction delve into the subject. I eat so fast taste isn’t a big one for me.īut now the issue of Overwhelm, Over-sensitivity, and Emotionality seem to be hot topics. Which, in no particular order, are Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell, and uh… Feeling? No, that’s Touch… Oh, right, Taste. (Is ‘Drama King’ a thing? If so, I’ve had a long and prosperous reign on that throne.) But when we were making our video on Emotional Sensitivity, c oaches, doctors, and researchers also talked about physical sensitivities. Hypersensitivity, Highly Sensitive or Overly Sensitive I mean, it was over a decade after I was diagnosed that I really started to confront the fact that my own particular combo of ADHD issues included being ‘overly’ sensitive. Since Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (aka ADHD or ADD) is still not well understood by neuroscience, what you and I ‘know’ about ADHD in adults probably contains some erroneous assumptions, outdated clichés, and a few gaps.
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